In December of 2004 several of the UK's leading musicians gathered at
Abbey Road studios in London to participate and pay tribute to Scotty
Moore. Conceived earlier that year the objective was to invite
many of England's rock performers and Scotty's friends that had been
weaned on and inspired by the music he had recorded with Elvis.
The inability to secure an exact date for the event until very late
prohibited several of the invited guests to attend.

The event was scheduled
for 3 days and performances were filmed before a live studio audience of
invited guests.
Bill Wyman, most
widely known as the original bassist for the Rolling Stones, along with
his Rhythm Kings served as the anchor band for many of the songs
performed with appearances by several guest artists. In addition,
several of Scotty's UK band mates from the
Grundy/Pritchard band were on
hand to play.

Two of the invited guests who performed were
Mark Knopfler
and Eric Clapton.
Mark, formerly of Dire Straits has been a fan and friend of Scotty's
since he recorded an album in Nashville with Chet Atkins in 1989.
At the time he told Chet that he had always wanted to meet Scotty so
Chet brought him by. They've been friends since. Mark
performed "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Baby Let's Play House" and in
almost a nod to Scotty used an early
'50s Super 400 similar to the
one Scotty had played with Elvis. He noted too after the
performance that the song traditionally should have also been performed
with an upright bass.

Eric first met Scotty during the awards ceremony in New York for the
Rock Hall of Fame when Scotty was inducted in 2000. He said he had
hoped to record with him at some point. Though he could only
attend the first two days of the sessions at Abbey Road they performed 3
songs: "That's All
Right", "Money Honey" and "Mystery Train".
Eric sang and performed Elvis' guitar parts on his signature Martin
accompanied to Scotty's leads, Pete Pritchard on bass and Graham Broad
on drums. Scotty's friend Steve Shepherd also filled in on
keyboards at one point.

Also in attendance were Martin
Taylor and
Albert Lee. Martin is a jazz guitarist and Scotty has been a
fan and friend of his for years. Scotty has in his collection a
Martin Taylor signature guitar
given to him by his friend Mike Eldred when he worked for Yamaha.
Martin performed "Blue Moon" and "Tennessee Waltz". Albert,
who sometimes performs as a member of the Rhythm King's is widely known
in the guitar world as a master of his craft and has performed with the
likes of Emmy Lou Harris, The Everly's and Joe Cocker to name but a few.
During these sessions he performed "Trying to get to you", "Baby I
don't Care", "Blue Sued Shoes" and "Hound Dog".

English rocker Steve Gibbons performed "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Be
Cruel", "Jailhouse Rock" and "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine",
while Grundy-Pritchard band mate Paul Ansell performed several other
Elvis classics that included "Mess of Blues", "Good Rockin Tonight" and
"Ready Teddy". David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame performed
"Don't".

Another member of the Rolling Stones to participate was
Ron Wood. Ron's been friends with Scotty since the time Scotty
went to see the Rolling Stones play on their Steel Wheels tour.
They recorded together for Scotty and DJ's "All
The King's Men" album.

After the filming had been completed and the editing had been done the
production company decided to release the DVD as a tribute to Elvis
rather than a tribute to Scotty. Its probably more of a marketing
decision but those in attendance who witnessed and performed all know
why everyone was there. All in all it was a momentous occasion and
Scotty was thrilled they all came.

November 14, 2005

Special thanks to Trev Wilkins of
Tight Digital
Music Services providing Live and Studio Services to the music
industry for the use of his photos.

A TRIBUTE TO THE KINGBy Scotty Moore & FriendsLive At Abbey Road StudiosReleased 24th October 2005